The Importance of Riser Monitoring in Drill Operations

Riser monitoring plays an important role in drilling operations. Risers are monitored in order to optimize efficiency and reduce risk during daily drilling projects. There are numerous monitoring systems available for the monitoring and measuring of the bend and fatigue on the risers.

Subsea Riser Monitoring

A drilling riser is a conduit that serves as an extension between a subsea oil well and a surface drilling facility. It’s important to monitor and measure environmental conditions and responses during all phases of drilling operations. Monitoring can be done through systems such as subsea riser monitoring.

These systems measure the buoyancy uplift and bending fatigue as well as the riser’s motions and set-down due to lateral excursions. Most monitors use fiber optic sensing for real time information on temperature, strain, environmental conditions. Small changes in temperature or strain and fatigue are logged and sent as an alarm to the main control system where informants are alerted.

Riser and Flowline Monitoring

Typical riser and flowline monitoring services are essential to drilling services in terms of safety and maintenance. Some flowline monitoring systems are used to measure the bend and fatigue in order to provide an overall assessment of various subsea risers.

Other monitoring systems available use remote subsea devices for long-term measurements of the buoyancy forces, which are then relayed to platform operator. Monitoring systems are typically available for various riser and flowline systems including buoyancy supported risers, steel catenary risers, single line offset risers, free-standing hybrid risers, multi-bore hybrid risers and oil-offloading lines.